Talk:How to Play
Web Archived Rulings *Web Archive faq General Questions Q: How are creatures different from spells? A: When you summon a creature, you put it into the battle zone and it stays and fights for you turn after turn (unless it loses a battle or goes to the graveyard for some other reason). When you cast a spell, you do what it says and then put it into your graveyard right away. When you put creatures and spells in your mana zone, though, they both work the same. You put them there and they stay. Q: If I have a spell that says to choose a creature, can I still play it even when there are no creatures I could choose? A: Yes. You can cast any spell you want as long as it's the right part of the turn for casting spells and you have the mana to pay for it. When you cast a spell, you follow as much of its instructions as you can. If you can't do anything the spell says, it just doesn't do anything and you put it into your graveyard. Q: If a card makes my opponent and me do something at the same time, who goes first? A: Usually the order doesn't matter. But if it does, the person whose turn it is always goes first. Q: If a card tells me to destroy one of my opponent's creatures, can I choose one in his mana zone? A: No. Only creatures in the battle zone can be "destroyed." If a spell lets you put a card from your opponent's mana zone into his graveyard, it will clearly say so. Deck and Graveyard Q: When do I lose the game if I run out of cards in my deck? Is it when I draw my last card or when I try to draw a card but can't because they're all gone? A: You lose as soon as you draw your last card. Q: Can my opponent look at the cards in my graveyard? A: Yes. Both you and your opponent can look at what's in your graveyard. (Only you can look at what's in your hand, and nobody can look at what's in your deck, not even you.) Paying Costs Q: If a creature costs 5, do I have to tap 5 cards in my mana zone whenever I attack with it? A: No. Tap the 5 cards only when you first put the creature from your hand into the battle zone. You never have to pay that cost again. Q: If I have a darkness card in my hand that costs 4, does that mean I have to tap 4 darkness cards in my mana zone? A: No. Only 1 of the 4 cards you tap has to be darkness. (If more than 1 is darkness, that's okay, too.) How Creatures Work in Different Zones Q: What's the difference between putting a creature into my mana zone and summoning it into the battle zone? A: If you put the creature into your mana zone, none of the things written on it matter. All that matters is what civilization it is. The cards in your mana zone don't fight for you or do anything except tap to pay for your other cards. If you put a creature into the battle zone (or cast a spell), you read all the text and do what it says. Normally you can't move cards between your mana zone and the battle zone, but some special cards let you do it. Q: How can I tell which of my cards are giving me mana and which can fight for me? A: There are 2 ways to tell. The main one is that your fighting creatures are in the battle zone, in front of your shields. The cards that give you mana are in your mana zone, behind your shields. You can also tell because you put the cards that give mana upside down (so you can't read their text but you can read their mana numbers). Q: Can I follow the instructions on one of the creatures that's in my graveyard? A: No. Unless a card specifically says otherwise, the words in the text box don't do anything on creatures that are in your graveyard, hand, or mana zone. Attacking Q: When one of my creatures attacks my opponent and breaks a shield, who chooses which shield it breaks? A: You do. Of course, normally you won't know what cards the shields are, so it won't matter which one you choose. But if you played a card that let you look at your opponent's shields, then you might care which one your creature breaks. Q: In what order do things happen if one of my creatures does something when it attacks? A: When you want one of your creatures to attack, you choose the creature, tap it, and choose what it's attacking. Then you do any effects that happen because the creature is attacking. Then your opponent decides whether or not to have any of his creatures block (if they have "blocker"). Q: If one of my creatures that has "double breaker" attacks my opponent, and the first shield broken has a "shield trigger" ability that puts my attacking creature in the graveyard, does the second shield still get broken? A: Yes. As soon as a creature that has "double breaker" isn't blocked, it creates the effect "break 2 shields." The shields break one at a time, but both get broken even if the attacking creature leaves the battle zone first. Evolution Creatures Q: I can't find any evolution creatures. Where are they? A: There aren't any evolution creatures in the Duel Masters base set, but the next few expansions have plenty! Q: How do I play an evolution creature? A: Just like with a regular creature, you tap cards for mana to pay an evolution creature's cost. At least 1 of that mana needs to be of that creature's civilization. Here's where it gets different. The evolution creature's text tells you which race it evolves from. You have to play the evolution creature on top of one of your creatures of that race in the battle zone. Q: Can a card that affects a creature also affect an evolution creature? A: Yes. An evolution creature is a creature in every way. Q: If my evolution creature leaves the battle zone, what happens to the creatures under it? A: Once you evolve a creature, the evolution creature and the creatures under it count as one card until they leave the battle zone. If the evolution creature leaves the battle zone, the creatures underneath go with it. Q: If my evolution creature goes to my mana zone, what happens? A: Both the evolution creature and the creatures under it go to your mana zone. When they are in your mana zone, they are separate cards again. Q: If an evolution creature goes to the top of my deck, in what order do I put the cards? A: Whatever order you like. The deck's owner gets to choose the order of the cards. Q: If I play a creature that has summoning sickness and then play an evolution creature on top of it that turn, can the evolution creature attack that turn? A: Yes. An evolution creature doesn't have summoning sickness even if the creature it evolved from did.